Reading List 2013-2014 School Year

• What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty - picked this off the staff room 'pick a book' rack. Alice hits her head in spin class and loses ten years of her life. I just ripped through the pages. Interesting to think about what I'd be like if suddenly I thought it was ten years ago! I really recommend this one!
• The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke - It's set in Venice! One of my fave locations for my Nano novels! I enjoyed it, but loved the drawings for each chapter, made me happy to know see the canals and all. A good story as well!
• Stephen Fair by Tim Wynne-Jones - I'm not usually into teen novels, but this one was perfect. Stephen's brother had nightmares and vanished, then Stephen began to get nightmares. Really a surprisingly good read.
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - sad to say I didn't really get into it and ended up stopping. Maybe another time I'll try again.
• The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo - a lovely little novela on how an elephant dropped through the opera house roof because of the magician and changed lives. Very nice.
• Forest Mage by Robin Hobb - continuing the saga of Nevare and his struggles between who he thought he was and who the magic has turned him into. Might read the last one sometime, but off to enjoy some other books.
• Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb - Really enjoyed this first book and decided to go ahead and read the second one. Interesting world!
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed - Always one of my dreams to do the PCT. A nice story, but more a journey of discovery than a trail journal. I enjoyed it.
• A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - must stop reading these!!! Taking a break. They say that Martin is the American Tolkien, but I disagree. I see no hope in here, darn good stories, but the aura of hope is missing, and I miss that.
• A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin - what happened to Tyrion? Waiting for book five to arrive...Glad to be about done with this series!
• Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - almost threw this one across the room about half way through! On to Feast of Crows!
• A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (like in J.R.R. Tolkien?) Had to push on! Onto book three....
• Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - All right, I'm hooked. Off to read the second book!
• The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. Fabulous trip through the making of the Panama Canal. I read all 600+ pages and enjoyed it all (well, maybe except the political stuffs!) but the engineering, the medical, the men involved, what a great tribute to this place.
• The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman was intriguing. Imagine you could check out from a library items from fairy tales. Need to get somewhere in a hurry? How about 7 league boots? Nice twist on the tales and a good read.
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo was incredibly charming and lovely. A new Velveteen Rabbit feeling book. Glad I read it.
• Dragon Harper by Anne McCaffrey, Todd J. McCaffrey - it's been years since I read about Pern and wanted to see how Todd stacks up! Brought me right back, a good tale, but I've peeked in and will probably go elsewhere for awhile.
• The Foundling by D.M. Cornish - Kind of enjoyed this alternate universe. Monsters sort of coexist with humans, but humans tend to want the monsters dead and out of the way. A young boy is raised in an orphanage and is chosen to become a lamplighter, the adventure on the way to his new job was a work of art. I did enjoy it! Lots of pictures drawn by the author, glossary and maps. Different words. Not bad!
• Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lasear - not too bad! Steampunk combined with a plausible fae tale. I kind of liked it.
• Hunger by Jackie Kessler - Very interesting tale of a young girl with anorexia who is confronted by Death not to die, but become one of the four horsemen, Famine. This was actually a great read, I really enjoyed it and might even read the others in my spare time :)
• Blaze by Laurie Boyle Crompton - Great book. I was expecting a typical teen angsty girl/boy thing, and the book really threw a curve at me and I ended up loving it and having to think about labels.
• Playing for Pizza by John Grisham - fun little read of a third string quarterback who ends up on the Italian NFL. Cute!
• Dakota - a Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris - A good book to read after the last one. Gave me time to breathe, process and sink deep into the things that matter. I really like her writing.
• A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah - I literally could not sleep at night if I read this before I went to bed. Wow. Truly a horror story and to think there are kids out there right now that are experiencing this. Breaks my heart.
• Bad Land by Jonathan Raban - Jonathan tells the story of the mid-American dream. Owning your own homestead with the promise that dry land farming can be done by anyone, which we all know now is not the case. He chronicles the homesteads and their decline as well as some of the families to come from there and some that still do. There is no dryness here, he brings a part of our history to life in an enriching way.
• Needles by Andie Dominick - a good look at what it's really like to live with diabetes and the choices you must make daily.
• Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell - one of our books in verse, this is a great telling of a friendship between Elaine and Gwynivere of King Athur fame. Sparse but full of meaning, snippets to enhance a rich story. I will recommend this one next year to kids for sure!
• Beyond the Sky and the Earth by Jamie Zeppa - I love stories of finding yourself in strange places that are well written and make you want to go there, this one certainly did. Jamie goes to teach school in Bhutan and her life changes course. Beautifully written.
• God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau - one of the 'lost boys' of the Sudan, really awoke in me a knowledge of what happened there and how the people were affected by the war. Nicely done.
• Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain - What a delight! He spent years researching Joan and the events of her life and considered this one of his best works. Critics panned it, but I thought it was fabulous. Told through the eyes of her secretary and friend, the voice throughout was perfect. I think a must read!